NOAA this week is conducting
a conference in Washington, D.C., bringing leading government and corporate
satellite experts to discuss challenges facing the growing commercial
satellite remote sensing industry. Federal officials herald the industry
as critical to the economy, the environment, U.S. national security and
foreign policy interests.

“Commercial
Satellite Remote Sensing Symposium: Improving The International Business
Environment” kicks off today and will continue through May 15 at
the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. Secretary of
Commerce Donald
Evans, along with top officials from NOAA, the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey are scheduled
to speak.

Organizers
have arranged panel discussions covering topics from the current state
of the remote sensing market, to finance and investment strategies, and
the regulatory policies of the United States and other countries.

“The
symposium will clarify the conditions in the commercial remote sensing
industry,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad
C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and
atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “NOAA works closely with this
industry, both as a regulator and a user of data, and the symposium will
foster continued mutual interaction.”

The NOAA
National Environmental Satellites and Information Service licenses
the operation of private remote sensing space systems, in consultation
from the departments of Defense, State, Interior and other agencies. To
date, NOAA has awarded 18 operating
licenses to 14 companies.

From space,
remote sensing systems take the pulse of the Earth’s surface by
absorbing the electromagnetic waves that are emitted or reflected by the
objects being sensed, including land masses and bodies of water. A licensed
satellite remote sensing system receives and stores these data.

Companies
then sell these data to their customers, including government agencies.
Data acquired from commercial sources can be applied to interests including
economic development, military planning, natural disaster reduction, coastal
monitoring, mapping and charting, and safe navigation.

Gregory W.
Withee, assistant administrator for NOAA Satellites and Information Service,
said, “This week’s symposium is about strengthening the dialogue
between the private and public sector, so that the remote sensing industry
can continue to grow and develop.”

The NOAA
National Environmental Satellites and Information Service is the nation’s
primary source of space-based meteorological and climate data. It operates
the nation’s environmental satellites, which are used for weather
and ocean observation and forecasting, climate monitoring and other environmental
applications, including sea-surface temperature, fire detection and ozone
monitoring. NOAA’s commercial licensing program draws on NOAA’s
heritage in satellite operations and remote sensing applications.

The NOAA
National Environmental Satellites and Information Service also operates
three data centers, which house global databases in climatology, oceanography,
solid Earth geophysics, marine geology and geophysics, solar-terrestrial
physics and paleoclimatology.

NOAA is
dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the
prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing
environmental stewardship of the nation’s coastal and marine resources.
NOAA is part of the U.S. Department
of Commerce.